THE RIGHT GOAL OF CHURCH PLANTING

Introduction:
When we plant churches we must aim for the right goal or we will lose the church
planting game. We will not be successful in starting the church God wants if we do not choose the right
goal.

I. The Goal

The goal of church planting is to establish churches as quickly as possible in many places. By the
power of the Holy Spirit, through prayer we can lead people to the Lord Jesus Christ and receive Him as
their Lord and Savior and teach them to obey everything He commanded.

II. Biblical Foundation

The Bible clearly teaches us that God wants all people to be saved and to be taught God’s Word.
I. The Great Commission 

a. “God has revealed in the Scriptures not only what to communicate, but how to communicate it”
b. The Great Commission specifically written in Matthew 28:19 - 20 is not just a command but a
strategy for church planting.

 The command to “go” can be applied as a command to evangelize and to saturate the target people
group with the Word of God.

 The imperative verbs “Make disciples” pertain to the effort of the church planter to disciple the
new converts for growth and maturity.

 “Baptizing them” is the charge to officially incorporate them into the fellowship that will be
portrayed by their consent to water baptism.

 “Teaching them to obey” is the directive of the Commander‐in‐Chief to train and to equip those
that has been incorporated into the fellowship for the work of the service so that the church
planters can form a team of workers.

 While the declarative phrase, “I will be with you” can be applied to the demand of the Master for
worship once His presence has been realized. He is there therefore the believers’ only recourse is
to worship Him in spirit and in truth!

The Scriptures teach us that God’s plan for reaching most people with His Word is to plant church
in communities where they live (You must Read - Mt. 16:18, Act 2:41-47, 1 Tim. 3:15, 1 Cor. 3:5-
6)

1
The Great Commission Strategy for church planting became the basis of all the church planting work
of the New Testament Church from Jerusalem, to Antioch to the ends of the earth in the first century AD.

c. The New Testament church planters usually don’t care about church’s buildings, there were no set
of dogmas, and were more concern with the transformation of the entire community rather than bringing
in the people to the fellowship.

d. What can be done to reach more people for Christ today? – Plant a church within the community and
study their own language and customs, so that many people will have a chance to become Christ’s
disciples and be taught to obey all He commanded.

III. Demographic Consideration

Most people today are still out of church’s reach. Some live too far away from any church that
teaches the Gospel. Others live close enough to a church, but they have different language and different
customs from the church members, they cannot be reached by the services of the church even if it is near.
So, the church must make some adjustment and design some programs that can reach out to people
with language barrier.

IV. Four Things Necessary for Church Planting

In order to reach the goal of planting churches we must do four things:

1. convert unsaved people

2. teach new converts
3. start New Testament churches
4. lead churches to cooperate

When we do these four jobs in the right way, we will plant strong New Testament churches. Study
the following:

1) Converting Unsaved People

In order to plant churches like those in the New Testament, we must first convert unsaved people
to faith in Jesus Christ. According to the Scriptures, a true church has members who are born-again
believers (Read - Acts 2:44,47; 1 Pet. 2:4-9; 1 Cor. 1:2). People must be joined to Christ by true saving
faith before they can be a part of the Christ’s body, the church (Rom.12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12-28)

If we accept people into the church who are not truly converted, a real part of the body of Christ
cannot be established. The Bible teaches that people who profess fait in Christ but do not continue in
Christian faith and fellowship are not really born-again believers (Read Luke 9:57-62; Mt. 13:18-23;Jn.
8:31; 1 Jn. 2:19; 2 Jn. 9)

2
2) Teaching New Converts

It is not enough just to lead people to accept Jesus. They must be taught and guided until they are
strong enough to run their own church. So, one work of church planting is to teach the new converts how
to live for Christ. They must learn how to Christ’s work through his body, they church. Jesus and the
apostles strongly emphasized the teaching of believers (Read - Mt. 28:20; Acts 2:42; 5:25; 42; 11:26; 1
Cor. 4:17; Col. 1:28; 2 Tim. 2:1)

One reason some new churches do not do well is that they have not received enough teaching and
guidance. The converts do not know how to live a good Christian life or to operate a church. The church
does not grow. Some of them even die. For this reason, it is best (but not absolutely necessary) for the
new group of believers to be under the supervision of a mother church, association, or convention until it
is ready to become and independent church.

3) Starting an New Testament Church

a. What a New Testament church is

It should be our goal to start churches like those that the apostles planted. I other words, they
should be New Testament churches. A New Testament church is, first, a congregation of people who have
been born-again through faith in Jesus Christ. Second, they have publicly professed their faith through
baptism. Third, they have been gathered together by the Holy Spirit and are being used by God to spread
His kingdom or family on earth.

We have already seen that this kind of church must have members who are truly born-again
believers. But in order to be a real New Testament church, the congregation must be able to do what is
necessary to spread God’s kingdom on earth. The kingdom of God means the spiritual rule of God in the
lives of men (Lk. 17:21; Rom. 14:17). The kingdom of God comes on earth by people becoming obedient
to God’s will (Mat. 6:10).

b. What a Church Must Do

What must a church be able to do in order to spread God’s kingdom?

First, a church must be able to do the work of evangelism. Evangelism is sharing Christ to to other
people by the power of the Holy Spirit, leaving the results to God. The church must lead the people to
enter the kingdom through faith in Christ as Savior and Lord (Jn. 3:3-5). In this way, the kingdom of God
grows through the entrance of new citizens.

Second, a New Testament church must be able to do the work of teaching believers.
A church should teach its members to obey everything Christ has commanded them to do (Mat. 28:20)
They must be taught to live according to the Word of God. They must know how to serve Christ through
His church. The kingdom of God grows within the believers as they become more obedient to God in
their life and service for Christ.
3
Third, a church must be able to do the work of missions. Missions is sharing the Gospel and planting
churches in areas where there is no Gospel-preaching church. Every church must work in its own
community, but also help to spread God’s kingdom to other communities all over the world (Read – Mark
13:10; Lk. 24:46-48; Jn. 20:21-23; Acts 1:8).
In this way the kingdom of God can reach all nations.

Fourth, a church must be able to do the work of worship. Worship is communicating or talking with
God. Every church must hold regular public worship services to help its members talk with God. (Read-
Acts 2:42, 46-47; Heb. 10:25). As they get to know God better by talking with Him, they will trust and
obey Him more. So the kingdom of God will grow within them.

Fifth, a church must able to do the work of helping people. Helping means to relieve the physical,
mental, and emotional suffering of people. It also means to remove the causes of suffering when possible.
The churches in the New Testament times were very active in helping both believers and unbelievers
(Read- Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-37; 1 Cor. 16:1-4; 2 Cor. 8-9; Gal. 2:10; 6:10). Helping shows people that God
loves them. This helps people love God and let Him rule their lives in His kingdom. It also makes it
possible for God to deliver people from suffering when that is His will.

V. A Mature and Independent Church

A New Testament church must be able to do all the work that is necessary for God’s kingdom to
grow. But even these five works of evangelism, teaching, missions, worship, and helping are not
enough. For the church to be mature and independent, it must be able to run its own affairs without
outside help. This means,

 First, that the church must have its own leaders and an organization that works well. This was true
of the New Testament church (Read- Matt. 18:17; Acts 1:23-26; 6:1-16; 15:1-35).

 Second, a New Testament church must be able to support itself financially. It should not have to
depend upon outside help in order to do the Lord’s work. The church members should be taught to
support the Lord’s work with their tithes and offerings (Read – Acts 4:34-37; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; 2 Cor.
8:9).

 Third, a New Testament church must fit into the life of its own community. It should follow the
customs of its own people as long as they are not against the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. A
church that follows customs or traditions different from those of its own community will not be
able to do its work effectively.

This is why the Apostle Paul said that, when working with the Jews, he lived like a
Jew, but, when working with the Gentiles, he lived like a Gentile in order to win them
to Christ ( Read – 1 Cor. 9:19-22)

4
4).Leading Churches to Cooperate

The fourth work of church planting is to lead the new churches to cooperate with
other churches. The churches in the New Testament cooperated with each other in order to encourage,
advise, and assist each other (Read- Acts 15:30-34; Rom. 15:25-27; 1 Cor. 16:1-4; 2 Cor. 8:1-9). They did
this because they knew that they were part of the one body of Christ which is made up of all true believers
(Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4; Col. 1:18). No church can do its work well by itself. It needs to
receive advice and encouragement
from neighbouring (Baptist) churches.

For example, when its first organizers, ordains pastors or deacons or faces problems that it cannot
solve by itself, a church needs the help of other churches, especially from an associations of churches or
convention of churches. There are many types of work that are too big for any one church (like home and
foreign missions, evangelistic campaigns, publication work, schools, hospitals, relief projects, camps,
conferences and campaigns to oppose social evils.) one example is the association of Baptist churches
have practical, voluntary cooperation between the local, independent churches through the association and
convention. By their cooperation we are able to reach more for our Lord.

When a Church Planter has led a group of converts to become a New Testament church, he can
leave that church and go on to begin a new work. He should continue to keep in contact with new
churches through visits and/or letters in order to give encouragement and advice as needed. The new
church is like a newly married couple that needs the advice and encouragement of their more experienced
parents and grandparents. New churches should be led to voluntary cooperation with other churches
through their association and convention. This cooperation will help them to be a stronger churches.

Learning Resources:

- Gammage, Albert W. Jr., “How To Plant A Church” : Church Strengthening Ministry,

1266 Makati City, Philippines.

- Glasser, Arthur. Article :“Importance of Church Planting in Missionary Work”

Associate Professor of the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary

- Bright, Bill., “Come Help Change The World” : Fleming H. Revell Company, Old Tappan, New
Jersey, USA, 1970

5
 MAKE GOOD PREPARATION: THE SPONSORING BODY

Introduction:

Before we do something important in our lives, we must make a good preparation.

Jesus taught us to make good preparation for the work of His kingdom, too (Luke 14:28-33). When trying
to start a new church, it is wise to make a good preparation. Usually it is easier to be led by the Holy
Spirit if we spend time thinking, discussing and praying about starting a new church.

I. First thing to do

The first thing to do is to prepare the sponsoring body. Sponsoring bodies are clusters or group of
people that are potential for starting new churches. The local church, association, convention, para-church
group can be a sponsoring body. But there are situations wherein the church planter have started a new
church without sponsoring body but supported by families and individuals moved by the Holy Spirit to do
the work.

Once the new church is established, it is better to have a sponsoring body so that the work will
have good support and supervision.

II. Organize The Local Church as Sponsoring Body

Organizing is the process of placing people into a structure to accomplish objectives. In order to
prepare the local church as a sponsoring body for church planting, organization is very important. Church
people have unique personalities, aspirations, strength and weaknesses. The Lord talked of His body – the
church, as corporate “organization” united by the Holy Spirit with Christ as the head.

At the same time He was very much interested in the individual members and their roles in the
body. So, we must be careful to maintain that perspective and not ignore the human factor in organizing.

Organizing has three parts:

1) Organize from the plan. – list all activities from your planning schedule; grouping
of activities that tend to relate one another; make a functional chart; list available
personnel to be assigned in each activities and match the appropriate personnel
with each grouping of activities.

2) Job descriptions. - clearly define and elaborate the specific responsibilities of

each person in your organization. It is a working document of responsibilities, line
of authority, and person accountable in the implementation of the church
planting plan.

6
 3) Delegation. – the on-going process by which the lead-church planter assigns
additional responsibilities and authority. These are assigned in such a way
that a degree of burden or personal accountability is produced within the
individual. In the Bible, we call it “Jethro’s Principle” of delegation. Jethro, Moses
father-in-law, observed the situation and declared his suggestion to delegate the
job to other men. The Lord had a solution, seventy men of leadership from Moses’
initial organization were chosen to receive God’s Spirit and “share the burden” of
the people with Moses. So that Moses will not bear it alone (Numbers 11:17).

Therefore, it is a must that the local church will be organized and distribute the task to different
people trained as members of the church planting team, and start planting a new church in nearby
community by themselves. Some churches need help from other local churches, a cluster of churches
called circuit, bigger number of local churches group together called district, or association which covers
the whole members of local churches forming a convention.

The local church can make good preparation in six ways:

1) Every church needs some kind of organization to be responsible for its church
Planting work. It is the Church Planting Committee in cooperation with the
Outreach Committee, the Deacons, Men and Women Organizations or Officers
in the church.

The Job Description of the Church Planting Committee are as follows:

a. help the pastor in formulating a good program of teaching about church

planting procedure.

b. organize prayer groups and promote prayer for church planting.

c. promote the giving of offerings for church planting (in addition to the
allocated fund which are included in the church annual budget).

d. help recruit workers and provide trainings for the church planting.

e. design tactical supervisory plan for church planting.

2) Create a training design for the volunteer church planters, that includes all
information which will be presented to the trainees with the aim of teaching
them about church planting competencies and teaching them to develop an ideal
church planter behavior.

7
 The training content must include the following:

a) What the Bible teaches about church planting. They need to understand
that God expects every church and every Christian to work hard to plant
churches all over the world.
b) To identify a strategic areas where church planting is needed. The church planting trainees must
realize that great multitude of people have not had a chance to hear the Gospel because
there is no Gospel-preaching church near them.
c) The character of a church planter. The volunteer-trainees for church planting must learn and
understand the behavior of an effective church planter. The church planter must understand
his gift, calling and his office to successfully bring a New Testament church into existence.
d) Learn the biblical use of money. The church planter should learn the proper financial management.
The use of money in starting a church is more important than anything else, except the use of
people. In the final analysis, a church planter’s attitude toward people who supported the
planting program will influence the way he handles finances.

III. Prayer for Church Planting

Do not neglect your walk with God. The ministry is one of the easiest places to backslide. It is
possible to become so involved in the church planting ministry, and then forget the basis of the ministry.
The church planter should always include in his/her daily prayer the purpose and the details of his church
planting activity.

Some sponsoring churches fasted and prayed one day per week for a year before starting the
church planting program. The Lead-Pastor preaches a sermon exhorting preachers to pray daily for
wisdom, power and love. As a result, many have been motivated to include the needs and the guidance of
the Holy Spirit on their daily prayer list.

IV. Financial Support for Church Planting

The church members must provide financial support for the church planting work of their church,
circuit, district, association, and convention. This can be done in two ways. First, a part of regular
offerings of the church should be used for church planting. Second, the church must appropriate some
funds for church planting program, this should be included in the church’s annual budget.

Find Willing Contributors. Other people and churches may become involved in your new church
planting project as contributors. Many church planters find sponsors in the marketplace willing to support
the launch of a new church.

If you’re approaching a potential sponsor for funding, be sure your strategic fundraising
vision is clear and professional. Financially successful people like to see specifics in at least three
categories: (1) achievable goals; (2) how you’re stretching to meet those goals; and (3) how their money
will be spent. They also expect to be kept up-to-date on progress and results.

8
V. Recruiting Workers for Church Planting

All the workers for the church planting programs of the local church, district, and convention must
come from the local churches. The recruitment of workers is mainly the responsibility of the local church.
In teaching church members about church planting, it should be explained that God gives some believers
gifts or talents that can be used in church planting. Such members should know that God calls some
people to church planting ministries. Gifted people should be challenged to commit themselves to church
planting work.

Develop a SWAT Team

In settings where extension members are unavailable or their use would be unwise, several other
means for recruitment are possible. One alternative has been termed a SWAT team, an acronym for
Servants, Willing And Temporary. SWAT launch team members commit themselves to the new church
for a short time, usually six months. These volunteers staff will teach Children’s Sunday School, teach
small groups, serve on set-up teams for Vacation Bible School , community youth organizers, sports
ministry, or fill other roles in the first months following the launch.

The methodologies for recruitment should be designed carefully. Sincere Christians often envision
helping birth a “perfect” church. The trained SWAT volunteers for launching church-planting should
anticipate that their involvement will help them realize their vision as a part of fulfilling the Great
Commission.

The lead-church planter should avoid the option of “borrowing” or request untrained volunteer as launch-
team members’ from other groups, their ideas might be in conflict with the planter’s vision for planting a new
church. This may cause trouble during the implementation of the church planting project.

Therefore, the lead-church planter must ensure that the volunteers are trained and understand the
vision of church planting. When the lead-church planter choose church planting-launch-team members, he
must select volunteers who are willing to undergo trainings for church planting, this is the right way of
preparing people to do the task in achieving the goal of planting a new Testament Church.

VI. Planning for Church Planting

Planning is the process of predetermining a course of action. Church planters should plan because
Christ advocates thinking ahead (Lk. 14:28-32). Christians should plan because they could be moving
toward objectives (1 Cor. 9:24-26). If you want to do successful church planting, you must do good
planning. The plan should be made by the Church Planting Committee and approved by the church.

A Church Planting Plan (CPP - also called proposal or prospectus) is a document that
convincingly demonstrates that your church can provide a service significant enough to become a viable
ministry and to be attractive to potential members.

1. The Church Planting Plan becomes a means of enlisting partners, developing

financial backing, and gauging potential interest.
9
 2. It is useful to attract Church Planting Team members, to build unity of purpose
and direction within the core group.

3. The plan becomes a sanity or reality check.

A CPP helps leaders to deal with questions like “are we on sound financial footing” and “do we
have compelling reasons to continue?” A church needs to develop a strategy, target a ministry focus
group, focus on service quality, and attend to basic business matters. The Church Planting Plan can help
the persons to focus on different agenda and interests on the common task of launching and developing a
healthy church.

The Church Planting Plan (CPP) should include the following basic parts:

a) The place for the church planting project.

b) Selection of the workers and a plan for training them.
c) The methods of making and teaching converts.
d) What materials and equipment are needed.
e) A budget for the expenses, it may include training, travel, meals for
the workers, materials and equipment, and rental (if needed).
f) The method of monitoring and supervising the church planting work.
c) Regular and accurate reports during the sponsoring bodies meeting.

VII. Association as Sponsoring Body

One of the most important responsibilities of associations of churches is to sponsor church

planting. Usually an association will plant churches in places within its area where no local church is able
to start a church. But sometimes association reach out beyond their own areas to plant churches.

Established and stable associations plays a vital role in supporting a church planting project.
Christian Associations can embrace church planting principle and extend their help to the new church
planted in numerous ways.

• Serving as a sponsoring association.

• Contributing directly to the budget of a new church planted through one-time,

monthly, or special designated gifts.

• Sponsoring church pastor or ministerial staff member who can serve as a church
planting coach/mentor.

• The sponsoring association can send lay persons or couples (on loan as temporary

10
 missionaries for a term of 6-12 months) to a new church planted.

The new Church planted struggles in the early days with the need for mature
believers who can teach, disciple, serve with children or students, serve on the
music/worship team, or in outreach and evangelism.

• The sponsoring association can donate quality equipment or furniture to the

church planted.

• The sponsoring association can sponsor or assist the new church planted with
outreach and service project events that will help the new church planted (block
parties, canvassing of neighborhoods, door hanger projects, etc.).

• The sponsoring association must identify the needs within the community where a
church will be planted. They will help the church planter to connect with the
community through these needs.

The Church Planters are encourage to connect and establish relationship with
the existing Christian Associations that are supporting church planting projects . He can work closely with
these associational missionaries to engage, train, support, and encourage church planters, partner with
sponsoring churches, and develop church planting strategies.

VIII. Convention as Sponsoring Body

Conventions are like associations except that they cover bigger areas like a region, an island, or
nation. Usually, they sponsor church planting in places that cannot be reached by a local church or
association. This may be within the country (home missions) or outside the country (international
missions).

The church planting work of the convention may be administered by a church Planting committee or
Board (or missions Committee or Board). Some convention have separate committees or board for home
missions and international missions. Of course, the convention Executive Committee could have this
responsibility.

The duties of the Convention Church Planting (or Missions) Committee are basically the same as of
those of the Associational Church Planting Committee. But since the members of the committee usually
come from widely scattered areas, they cannot meet together often. For this reason, there is usually a need
for one or more fulltime or part time administrative staff workers. These supervise the church planting work
of the convention and make some report during the meetings of the Church Planting Committee.

If the convention cannot afford to employ a staff worker, it can ask someone to serve part time
without pay. Staff members should be good administrators and promoters who are trained and/or
experienced in church planting (or missions) work.

11
IX. PARA-CHURCH Body Can Assist In Church Planting

A Para-Church body is an organization that does Christian work but is not a church or association
of churches. Some para-church bodies sponsor church planting. Student Campus Fellowship, Christian
Youth organization, Christian Men Association, Baptist Men Association, Women’s Missionary Society
and other Christian organizations are examples of this kind of sponsoring body.

Para-Church bodies are made up of individuals and/or representatives of churches that are
concerned of church planting. Of course, it is best for church planting to be local churches, associations,
conventions because more God’s people are involved. But in the absence of these bodies, the interested
church planter can request the assistance of Para-Church bodies in order to pursue the church planting
project.

X. Missionary-Minded Families and Individual Believers

If the bodies mentioned above do not fulfil their responsibility to plant a church, there are
missionary-minded families and individual believers who are waiting to support a gifted church planter
called by God. What he need is to ask the guidance of the Holy Spirit through prayer and invite these
people to get involved and support this challenging task in fulfilling the Great Commission.

Some mature churches have traces of history that the church started with its humble beginnings by
families and individuals who supported the church planter in the past. With fervent prayer, the church was
established and become mature and now deeply involved in church planting program. They have sponsored
scholarship for Bible students from their church and produced pastors, missionaries and elders who are very
much concerned about missions, church planting and church growth.

12